AVCHD Video Editing

[bwhipps]

I am currently using a PC and can't stand editing in High Def on it
so I am considering switching to a Mac and using Final Cut Pro, but I am not sure if the laptop I am considering will be powerfully enough to handle AVCHD editing:

15" Macbook Pro
Intel Core i5
4 GB Memory
320 GB Hard Drive 5400rpm
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 256MB

 

[spinnerlys]

As FCP won't work with AVCHD footage in its native format (MPEG-4), FCP will transcode the footage to a format of your choice (.mov using the ProRes or Apple Intermediate Codec), thus you can edit it. Any current Mac is capable of doing this without problems, just think about getting an external HDD to store your footage on and use as scratch disk, as AIC or PreRes encoded HD video will take up 40GB/hour and more.

 

[bwhipps]

As FCP won't work with AVCHD footage in its native format (MPEG-4), FCP will transcode the footage to a format of your choice (.mov using the ProRes or Apple Intermediate Codec), thus you can edit it. Any current Mac is capable of doing this without problems, just think about getting an external HDD to store your footage on and use as scratch disk, as AIC or PreRes encoded HD video will take up 40GB/hour and more.

thanks for the response, so If i want to edit AVCHD with FCP or iMovie, I will have to render it to another format? and is there a program I can run on Mac where I can just take the AVCHD file and edit it without transcoding it?

 

[LethalWolfe]

The most recent versions of Avid and Premiere Pro will handle AVCHD natively but don't expect great performance as it is a very CPU intensive codec.


Lethal

 

[steveOooo]

Try converting the AVCHD footage into editable formate (for mac) its pro res or XDCAM - for PC id imagine encode to similar format.

Seems alot of people complaim that their new swanky camcorder which shoots great hd at small file sizes (1GB per 5 mins i think) cant edit it - or try to and it doesnt work or wonder why it takes ages to import and then the file sizes are huge! (background encoding in case of imovie).

manufacturers should make it clear - for best results, edit into these formats, file sizes will be bigger. simples